Preventing Gender-based Violence in South Sudan

The Kakuma refugee camp, fourth largest in the world, is home to over 150,000 refugees from a number of African countries including Somalia, South Sudan, and the DRC. Adjacent to the camp is Kalobeyei, a settlement created as an answer to long-term displacement of refugees in the region.

While there are a number of NGO-run schools in Kakuma and Kalobeyei, only 50% of children are enrolled, leaving an enormous gap. Early marriage, a need for income, or other child protection issues are the primary reason cited for this low rate of school attendance. These protection issues disproportionately impact girls.

Amid these challenges, IsraAID is working to offer protection services implemented complementarily to the formal education system, specifically oriented to these children’s needs through two Child Resource Centers, one in Kakuma and one in Kalobeyei.

Throughout January, the outdoor space at the Kakuma Child Resource Center was under construction, to install a pergola which will give the children a shaded space for play. In addition, new soccer goals were set up to allow for children to play together. Check out the below pictures!!

Within the framework of these Child Resource Centers, IsraAID staff has, since 2016, trained facilitators from the community in psychosocial support to provide targeted care in a safe space. The centers are open six days per week, eight hours per day, serving 150 children each day. IsraAID’s facilitators, from the refugee community themselves, work to support the difficult emotional and behavioral needs the children often present.Furthermore, facilitators engage parents and children to create a culture of prevention and zero tolerance for phenomena such as female genital mutilation, early and forced marriage, and psychological or emotional abuse.

In January, IsraAID also launched a new Child Resource Center in the Palorinya Settlement in the Moyo district of Uganda, to provide 200 children daily with holistic protection services in a safe space. The center is run by 10 facilitators recruited from the refugee community and trained by IsraAID protection officers in prevention and response techniques. Daily activities will include psychosocial support to provide holistic care for children attendees aged 5 and up, focusing on their specific protection needs. In addition, an outreach program will engage some 400 community members in a series child protection awareness raising workshops through the framework of the center to increase preventive measures by parents, leaders, and other service providers.

Thanks for your support of these programs!

IsraAID's team in Kenya currently runs two Child Resource Centers (CRCs) - one recently opened in Kalobeyei village II, and the other is in Kakuma IV, opened in 2016. Each center includes a safe space (outdoor and indoor area) and hosts an average of 150 children per day for 6 days a week, 8 hours per day – with a goal to double this number. They are run by 21 facilitators from both the refugee and host communities, who are trained by IsraAID and equipped with knowledge and tools to provide psychosocial support. The Centers provide a first response to children’s needs and an entry point for working with affected communities. The purpose is to support the resilience and wellbeing of children and young people through community-organized, structured activities conducted in a safe, child friendly, and stimulating environment. In Kalobeyei, IsraAID is the only organization providing integrated psycho-social support activities for children in village 2. 

Children in Kakuma and Kalobeyei face a myriad of challenges. The context of armed conflict, displacement, drought, and famine that they have come from and still face, exacerbates their protection needs. This is demonstrated in high levels of emotional distress/trauma in Children Resources Center (CRC), schools, and communities.

In November, a group of mothers from the Child Resource Center in Kalobeyei came together to clean up the outdoor space adjacent to the kids’ play space. They worked together for a couple of days, clearing the yard of stones and tree stumps. The IsraAID field team joined them in the project, ensuring that children attending the center are safe.

This community clean-up initiative followed another exciting moment for the Child Resource Center: a new hook-up directly to a water source! Before this renovation, staff members would carry jerrycans to and from the center each morning for use in cooking, cleaning, and in the bathroom. Now that the center has an active water tap, the parents are planning to plant a garden!

Between International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November) and Human Rights Day (10 December) IsraAID led Krav Maga (an Israeli form of self defence) classes for women and girls as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. Irene, IsraAID Child Protection Officer, was the first to obtain basic Krav Maga training, and she then trained 5 female psychosocial support facilitators, and invited 32 teenage girls, 12 from Kakuma and 20 from Kalobeyei CRCs and trained them too.

Thank you for your support of these programs!